Many ophthalmic surgical procedures in the posterior segment are performed through a cannula. For example, a surgeon may make an incision in the pars plana and then insert a cannula in the incision. The surgeon may then access the inner eye via the cannula. Ophthalmic surgical instruments having a soft, flexible tip may be difficult to insert into a cannula because the soft, flexible tip may deform as a surgeon attempts to ingress the cannula. For example, as a surgeon approaches a cannula to attempt a cannula ingress, a soft, flexible tip of an instrument must be precisely aligned with a cannula opening to prevent the soft, flexible tip from deforming.